The Chinese eat moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, just as they eat dumplings on the first day of the Spring Festival and glutinous rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival.

Moon cakes are already everywhere now. Even KFC is taking advantage of the occasion to advertise its Portuguese egg tart.
It is believed that the first moon cakes in history were used as offerings to the God of the Moon in ancient China. The offerings were then shared by the families. The tradition of eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival didn't really start, though, until the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).

Different parts of China have different moon cakes with distinct tastes. Shanghai people, for example, like to put meat in their moon cakes. In south China, traditional moon cake fillings include lotus paste, egg yolk, nut kernels, bean paste and ham. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, everywhere in China ate these kinds of moon cakes,But gradually many people have found these moon cakes too sweet and look too much the same. Therefore people began to alter the fillings, as well as the appearance of the cakes. Mini moon cakes appeared, and different fillings were used, such as vegetables and fruit.

Because moon cakes usually contain a lot of sugar, oil and fat, it is better not to eat too many at a time. People who are obese, have high blood pressure or digestive system conditions should not eat too much moon cake either.

Also, it is recommended that people should not consume beverages containing lots of sugar when they eat moon cakes, such as Coca-Cola and fruit juice. The best drink to accompany moon cake is tea, or fruits that contain a lot of vitamin C.